Here it is!

Well, here is the blog you've all been waiting for! I am hoping to use this space to share my experiences in Mali as a Peace Corps volunteer with anyone who wants to learn more about the Peace Corps, Mali, or me.

After battling Poison Oak for the last month down in California (this is a battle I haven't won yet, unfortunately), I will leave next Tuesday for Philadelphia! After two days of meeting all of the other volunteers (around 80), we will travel as a group to Bamako, Mali via Paris. We will have approximately 2 months of language, culture, safety, health and technical training near Bamako, and then will travel out to our sites- where we will be working for the next two years. I won't know for a few more weeks where my site will be. Here's some Q & A:


What exactly will you be doing in Mali?

My official title is "agricultural extension volunteer." This means I will be working with the environmental side of the Peace Corps in Mali, and might be working with things like soil improvement and conservation, increasing and improving crop production in a sustainable manner, gardening, environmental education, agroforestry, irrigation, etc.


What language will you learn?

I don't actually know yet. While I have been practicing French with Rosetta Stone, I will most likely be learning a local language when I get to Mali. French will help me communicate with some people all around the country, but a local language will allow me to talk to most people at the site I will be working at for the next two years. I'll let you know what the language is when I find out.


Can I send you a letter?

Yes, please! I would love to receive mail, and will certainly write you back. Keep in mind that it can take a month or more for mail to arrive from the US, so be patient. I have heard that it is a good idea to write "air mail" on your letters/packages, and that if you send a postcard, you should put it in an envelope. If you want advice on sending packages, email me.

Here's my address for the next couple of months, I will have a new address when I move out to my site:

Ali Paulson, PCT
Corps de la Paix
BP 85
Bamako, Mali


Will you have internet access?

Yes, I'll have internet access, but I may not have it that often. I'll try to post on here once a month, but I can't promise anything. I should be able to check my email at least once a month as well. I'll know more when I find out where my site is.

How long will Ali be gone?

I leave on Tuesday July 7th, and will be in Mali until September 2011, 26 months total.


Where is that picture of the moon from?

I took that picture at the Festival au Desert (some cool videos here, click on the main one to get to some other YouTube videos) near Essakane, Mali in January 2009.


If you have any questions about Mali, the Peace Corps, or anything really, feel free to leave a comment and I will try to answer your questions in a future post! If you have trouble posting a comment, send me an email...there seems to be some quirkiness with the comment feature that I haven't figured out yet.

And now, to close out this first post...a cool Baobob tree that I took a picture of in Mali last January: